


Snipped

by writeswhatsheknows



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, Red String of Fate, Soulmates, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2020-08-13 11:44:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20173705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeswhatsheknows/pseuds/writeswhatsheknows
Summary: Virgil never really wanted his soulmates. When he meets them at a party, things don't exactly go according to plan.





	1. Fate Can Go Fuck Itself, Virgil Wants None Of That Bullshit

**Author's Note:**

> Also on my tumblr @writes-what-she-knows

Blue, Indigo, and Red. That’s what he called them. His soulmates. He didn’t know what their names were, or what they looked like, or how they acted, or anything about them, really. Except that their favorite colors were blue, indigo, and red, and they had been since Virgil was in junior high. It’s normal for the colors to change, he was told. People’s favorite colors changed all the time. Hell, Remy’s string still changed daily to reflect his soulmate’s favorite color. The last time any of Virgil’s had changed, he had been fourteen. He had kept a notebook since he was old enough to write, and he’d documented every time the strings changed, so he knew. Why he had the notebook, he still doesn’t know. Something calming about having that little piece of their stories, he supposes.

Indigo was the first to stop changing. When Virgil was five, Indigo liked green. Indigo liked green for a long time. When Virgil was seven, Indigo switched almost daily between blue and white. When Virgil was eight, Indigo liked purple. Purple is probably the color of his own sting, he thinks. He always has liked purple. When Virgil was nine and ten, Indigo liked gray. The shade was always different, but it was always gray. When Virgil was eleven, Indigo liked black for three months. After that, Indigo was indigo, and that still hasn’t changed.

Red was next to stop. Red had switched a lot, but ended up as red frequently. When Virgil was five, Red’s favorite color was red. When Virgil was six, it was also red, except for one month when it had been royal blue. When Virgil was seven, it had been pink. Not a pretty, pastel pink, either. Hot pink. Virgil could hardly stand to look at the string that year, because it hurt his eyes. When Virgil was eight, it had been yellow. Virgil didn’t like yellow very much, he found out that year. When Virgil was nine, it was red. When Virgil was ten and eleven, it was neon green, and he had thought it might stay that way forever, which he didn’t like. Then, when Virgil was twelve, it had changed to red again in the middle of art class, and Virgil had scrambled for his notebook in his bag, crossing out the note that it was done changing and scribbling that it was red again.

Blue was last to change, and had changed the most often. Blue had been pastel pink and yellow when Virgil was five, changing weekly. When Virgil was six and seven, Blue was either orange like the sunset, mint green, or lavender. Virgil had learned quickly that Blue liked pastel colors. When Virgil was eight, Blue went the longest time without changing that he ever had. For a month, Blue was navy blue, which Virgil found odd, considering he had only ever been light colors. After that, Blue switched daily from purple to blue to red to orange to green to pink to yellow and so on, and Virgil had gotten nervous, because what if his soulmate was indecisive? What if his soulmate also had multiple, and decided to flip between them daily before ultimately deciding that Virgil wasn’t who he chose? When Virgil was fourteen, Blue stopped changing, landing on a pastel blue and staying there. Virgil was ecstatic.

His tug was never been too strong, meaning they were reasonably close, probably within the state, but he never went searching for them, like a lot of people did. He had school, and his job, and friends. He couldn’t just drop everything and go. That’s not how he worked.

He couldn’t leave school for more than a couple days, because then his grades would slip and then he’d be failing and have to drop his shitty job at the Taco Bell downtown, because he wouldn’t have time to make the drive and study so much more, and then he wouldn’t have money to support himself because his shitty foster parents didn’t care about him, and he’d have to tell someone other than Dee and Remy about how he was living, and then he’d be taken somewhere else, away from Dee and Remy and Remus and everything that was shitty but familiar. At least, that’s what he told himself. His grades probably wouldn’t really slip, because he’d always been remarkably good at catching up. He just couldn’t let himself believe that. He couldn’t go try to find his soulmates. It wasn’t a good idea. They would just be disappointed, and he couldn’t put them through that. So he told himself this elaborate story when he felt the urge to go, go, get out of this shitty hellhole of a life, so that he didn’t. Because he needed to stay put. He found three people who somehow didn’t find him repulsive, and he wasn’t about to risk that to go find three people who were supposedly perfect for him, but would really just be disappointed and frustrated that he was their soulmate.  


So he stayed in his shitty life, with his shitty foster parents in the shitty foster home, and his shitty job, and the shitty people in his school. Because he was scared. Scared that if he left, he’d lose the only people he’d ever really cared about since his mom died, and he’d be alone again. He couldn’t be alone again.  
Dee left to find his soulmate when he was fifteen. He followed the neon green string tied around his pinky finger all the way to him. His soulmate was fairly close, he lived three cities over. Virgil knew Red and Indigo and Blue lived near where Dee’s soulmate did, because their pulls had always been similar, but he didn’t go with Dee. When Dee came back, he brought Remus with him. Remus, who Virgil had hated at first, but had grown to love. Remus, who loved that horrible shade of neon green that Dee had shown him one day, scribbling with a crayon on a piece of paper freshman year. Virgil was glad he couldn’t see the string, because it was really a terrible color. Remus, who was kind of a mess, but Virgil and Remy loved him because Dee loved him. Since then, Remus had just been part of the group. 

Remy’s soulmate was far away, so he had never followed his ever-changing string. Remy couldn’t go after his soulmate, he had confessed one night when Virgil slept over. His string extended into the ocean, meaning his soulmate wasn’t even on the continent, let alone in Florida. Remy had cried that night, scared that he might never meet his perfect person. That had scared Virgil a little, because Remy never cried. Virgil had held his hand, gripping it tightly to help him calm down, because that’s what Remy always did when he was crying or having a panic attack. Virgil had held his hand because he didn’t know what else he could do. Remy had cried himself to sleep there with Virgil, and Virgil had just held him through the night. That was when Virgil was sixteen. When Virgil was sixteen, he had vowed that he would never go after his soulmates, at least not as long as Remy couldn’t find his. He wouldn’t let Remy be the only one in their group without their perfect person. He wouldn’t let Remy hurt like that, seeing his friends and their perfect people while he couldn’t have his. He had looked at Remy, asleep on him with tear tracks down his face, and promised himself that. He hadn’t planned on going after them, really, but he felt good about the promise. Virgil never wanted Remy to hurt because of him, especially not over something as stupid as soulmates.  


When Virgil was seventeen, his foster brother had aged out of the system. Thomas had been the only good thing about the shitty home with shitty foster parents, and then he was gone. Virgil had been eight when he was taken in. Virgil’s mom had died when he was six, and the whole time he was seven, he had been through foster home after foster home, and most of them were great. None of the foster parents were able to deal with the anxiety and panic attacks and nightmares, though, and he would just get shuffled along to the next house. Then he had been taken in by this family, and they had Thomas, and Thomas was the first person who even tried to care about him. Thomas had held his hand to help him stay grounded, and taught him the breathing exercises that still help him. Thomas had practically raised him, and Virgil hadn’t let himself think about when Thomas would leave him, not for any of the nine years he was there. Thomas had always supported him for having three soulmates, and they’d always been able to just talk to each other. Thomas had been the one to force him out of bed on the days when he felt too horrible to even stand up. 

Then Thomas turned eighteen, and had to leave. Virgil had cried for weeks. Thomas had left, and not even two weeks later, he was completely gone. Thomas had moved to another state, and of course Virgil was glad his brother went to college, but he missed Thomas. Once Thomas was gone, there was nothing good left about the shitty foster home. Virgil had felt so alone. Thomas was always busy, and could only call about once a month. When Virgil was seventeen, his family left him. When Virgil was seventeen, he had to force himself not to go back on his vow. When Virgil was seventeen, he had to make himself stay in his shithole of a town, instead of going to find his soulmates. He had a family. He didn’t need to find new people to care about him. He had Remy, and Dee, and Remus, and he didn’t need anyone else.  


When Virgil turned eighteen, he wanted to do what Thomas did. He wanted to leave. He wanted to go far, far, far away, so he never had to see the shitty foster parents again. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to leave Remy, Dee, and Remus. Even if he could, he can’t afford an apartment in the worst part of town, let alone somewhere new. Hell, he was still living in the foster home. The shitty foster parents had agreed to let him stay in the house, as long as he cleaned up all their messes and they never saw him.  


For eighteen years, Virgil managed to avoid his soulmates. For eighteen years, he managed to avoid the tug of his strings. For eighteen years, he didn’t even know who his soulmates were. 18 years, 216 months, 6,574 days, 157,776 hours, 9,466,560 minutes, 567,993,600 seconds he spent avoiding three people, and he was happy to continue life without them. Maybe not happy, but at least resigned. He wouldn’t know them. He wouldn’t put them through that. They didn’t need him. For eighteen years, Virgil tried to avoid Red, Blue, and Indigo. He had been doing so well, too, until about a month and a half after he turned eighteen.  


● ● ●  


“Is everything ready for the party over there, hon?” Remy called from across the room, where he was putting the finishing touches on the half he was decorating. Virgil shoved a pin in the streamer he’s holding, nearly falling off the ladder.  


“Yeah! How are we looking, Remus?” Virgil yelled back, and Remus looked up from his place on the floor, surrounded by random party supplies. He shrugged, making a face.  


“Remy’s side looks better!” Virgil stuck his tongue out at Remus, looking around. He was right. Remy’s side was perfect. It looked professionally decorated. His own side was, well, a mess. The streamers were crooked, and a few were torn. His side was fine on its own, but when compared to Remy’s, it was horrendous.  


Remy sighed. “Go handle the food, Virge. I’ll fix this.”  


Virgil flashed him a grateful smile, jumping from the fourth step of the ladder. Remy ruffled his hair as he stepped up onto the ladder. Virgil used his foot to sweep some things to the side, and sat down opposite Remus in the empty spot. “How many guests are we at?”  


Remus pushed some things to the side, and squinted at a piece of paper. “Uh, I don’t know. This isn’t actually the list,” he said, looking at Virgil.  
“Where is the list?” asked Virgil, running his fingers through his hair.  


Remus shrugged. “Rem, where’s the RSVP list?”  


“Your phone, we sent an Evite, remember?”  
Remus nodded. “Right! It had the balloons on it!” He pulled his phone from his pocket, checking the list. “Uh, twelve.”  


Virgil scrunched up his eyebrows, confused. “Who? I only knew about six,” asked Virgil. “The three of us, Eliza, and those two guys he knows from work? Who else?”  


Remus frowned. “Did we forget to tell you? He invited three more friends from work and my brother and his soulmates.”  


Virgil gave him a blank look. “Brother?” He glanced back at Remy, who wasn’t paying any attention.  


“Yeah, Roman. My younger brother?” Remus shook his head, smiling widely. “I really thought you knew about him. Dee wanted to get to know him better, so he and his soulmates drove down yesterday. They’re staying in our guest room.”  


Virgil nodded slowly. “Okay. I just have to go decorate some of the extra cupcakes and get more plates, then. Oh! And change the dinner order? Shit, and where can I get more chairs? And sodas?”  


“Virge, girl, slow down! Remus and I can handle it, just go work on your cupcakes!” Remy raised an eyebrow at him, jumping down from the ladder. “Everything is fine.”  


Virgil nodded, getting up to go decorate cupcakes. It would all be okay.  


Four hours later, Virgil found himself leaning against a wall in the corner of Remy’s living room, watching everyone else at the small party. Dee and Remus were catching up with Eliza, and Remy was busy flirting with some guy from Dee’s work, leaving Virgil all alone. The four guys Dee knew from work were all talking, and besides, he didn’t want to go through the awkwardness of meeting new people. Remus’s brother wasn’t there, either, and neither were his soulmates. They were probably late, he guessed. He glanced down at his strings absentmindedly. Everything was still the same. He bit his lip, glancing toward the kitchen. He could probably just dart in there and stay there, then he wouldn’t be forced to talk to anyone new. He took a step towards the kitchen, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to find Remus.  


“Hey, Virgil! Isn’t this just great?” said Remus, and Virgil forced a nod. “Anywho, my brother just showed up and well, he doesn’t really know anyone here, and I think you would get along with those three! Would you mind saying hi?”  


He kind of did mind, but he couldn’t say that, so he just nodded again, letting Remus lead him to the other side of the room. They stopped, and he looked up at the guy. He looked really nice, sure, but he also looked kind of conceited, Virgil thought. Fine by him, that way he wouldn’t have to talk as much. “Virgil, this is Roman, and these are his soulmates, Logan and Patton.”  


Virgil gave a little wave, but none of them seemed to see. They were all staring at their hands, and Virgil looked down, eyes widening. Each of his strings connected to one of their hands. Blue was Patton. Indigo was Logan. Red was Roman. Red was Remus’s brother. His soulmate was Remus’s brother. Virgil looked up at them, stepping backwards. “You’re our fourth,” Roman breathed.  


With that, Virgil turned and ran. He shoved Remy to the side in his haste, and ran out the door. He ran down the sidewalk, tears pouring down his face. He ran and ran, turning down street after street. When he finally stopped, out of breath, he found himself in front of a Walmart. His breathing was frantic, and tears dripped from his chin. He had done such a good job of avoiding them for eighteen years. Eighteen years, and then when he did meet them, it was an accident. He swiped at his eyes, trying to stop crying. He ran into the Walmart before he could regret what he was doing. He ran to the customer service desk, hoping it wasn’t anyone he knew. Thankfully, it wasn’t, and he only got minimal strange looks for sobbing in a Walmart.  


“Um, can I help you with something?” asked the employee, a teenage girl.  


“So-soul scissors,” he said, breath hitching. The girl nodded frantically, grabbing a pair from behind her. That’s what was nice about Walmarts. They always had what you needed behind the customer service desk. She handed him the scissors.  


“Ten dollars,” she said, staring at him. He thrust a ten at her, and ran out of the store with the scissors. He got a weird look from a man wheeling a shopping cart when he ducked around the corner, but he didn’t care. He had to stop this. He couldn’t put those three through this. He couldn’t put them through the horrors that came along with him. It was a struggle to pry open the plastic wrapping the soul scissors were kept in, but he managed, eventually. He held out his strings away from his hand and took a deep breath. This wouldn’t keep them from being soulmates, but they wouldn’t be able to find him. He held his breath while he snipped the strings, and then the all too familiar tug was gone. He had three inches of string hanging from each of three fingers. That was odd, it was supposed to disappear. Whatever, he freed them. He saved them from him. He shoved his scissors in his pocket and started walking.  


He had no idea where he was. He had been walking for an hour and he felt horrible for missing most of Dee’s party and he was lost and he had only just realized what he had done. He would never be able to have soulmates now. They wouldn’t want him after he purposefully cut the strings. You weren’t supposed to cut them until after you met them. It was supposed to be symbolic and shit, the cut signifying the start of something new. He would never have that something new. He felt himself about to cry again, and fumbled for his phone, dialing Remy’s number. He picked up on the first ring.  


“Virgil, where the hell are you? You just disappeared! Remus said you ran away? What the fuck, Virge?” Remy sounded panicked over the phone, and that pushed Virgil over the edge. He broke down crying again.  


“Can you come pick me up please? I’m lost.” He didn’t answer any of Remy’s questions. He didn’t think he could stand to.  


“Fine.” There was a moment of near silence, when Virgil could hear Remy grabbing his keys and getting in his car. “Where are you? What street?”  


Virgil looked up. “The corner of Oakwood and Greenmark. Please hurry?”  


“Of course, babe. Do you wanna stay on the phone while you calm down or no?” The simple question made Virgil smile. Even if he’d royally screwed up everything else today, he still had Remy.  


“Yeah,” said Virgil thickly, fighting his sobs. “Tell me about the party?”  


Virgil sat down on a bench, fidgeting with his jacket sleeve as he listened to Remy. “Well, your cupcakes were a hit! I saved yours for you. Remus kept trying to eat it.” That made Virgil laugh. “You made a good call, inviting Eliza. She had really missed Dee. They talked pretty much the whole time. Oh, and you remember that guy from Dee’s work I was flirting with?”  


Virgil nodded, and then realized Remy couldn’t see him. He really needed to stop doing that. “Yeah. How’d that go?” Personally, he didn’t see the point in dating if there wasn’t that perfect person, but some people liked it. Especially those whose soulmates lived overseas.  


“He was straight. But his friend wasn’t, and I talked to him, and we’re going out next Friday! His name is Ben. He was the cute brunette? I don’t know if you saw him,” said Remy, and Virgil could hear the excitement in his voice.  


“I did.”  


“Isn’t he cute? Also, Virge, this is a really long way from my place. Did you walk all the way there?” They had held the party at Remy’s apartment, because it was the nicest.  


“I ran.”  


“Damn, Vee. You okay?”  


“Am I ever?”  


“Fair point.”  


His crying had stopped, but he was still a mess. A lady with her baby in a stroller walked by, and he deliberately avoided eye contact. “You almost here?”  


“Quarter mile, hon. Almost. I’m going to hang up now, okay?”  


Virgil hummed, pulling his knees to his chest. “Okay.” He his the end call button on his screen, and watched the corner for Remy. Not even five minutes later, Remy was in front of the corner, and Virgil got in the car.  


As soon as the door was shut, Remy looked at him. “You wanna tell me why you ran away, now?”  


Virgil shrugged. “Not really, but you aren’t going to let me say no, are you?”  


Remy shook his head. “Nope! So what’s wrong?”  


Virgil stared straight ahead, hand gripping the scissors in his pocket tightly. He bounced his knee, unable to sit still. “I met Roman. And Patton. And Logan.”  


“Remus’s brother and his soulmates? Why is that a problem?” asked Remy, turning the corner.  


“Because they’re Red, Blue, and Indigo.”  


“Oh, shit.”  


“Yeah. And I freaked out, and I ran away. I ended up at a Walmart.”  


Remy turned the radio down, confused. “I’m not sure I know where this is going.” He stopped at a red light, and Virgil pulled the hand gripping the soul scissors out of his pocket, and put them in his lap. Remy looked down. “Virgil, you didn’t.”  


He nodded, confirming what Remy hadn’t wanted to ask. “I did.” He swallowed, not wanting to say it.  


“Virgil. What, exactly, did you do?” asked Remy. He just needed confirmation.  


“I snipped my soul strings.”


	2. An Update

Hi! So, I know that it has been months since I posted chapter one of this, and I wanted to let y'all know that I am, in fact working on chapter two, but in order to have this story continue the way I planned it to, I'm going to have to go back and rewrite a lot of chapter one to fix some problems I made. So, yes, I'm still working on this, it isn't abandoned, but the things I did in chapter one made chapter two near impossible to write along my plot line, so I have to rewrite some. 

I'm not going to give a time frame on when it will be up because that never works out, but I would hope I can have them done soon.

I will delete this chapter when I'm done with them, so the numbering is not thrown off

I love you, and I hope you have an amazing day.

💜💜💜


End file.
